HIPPOPOTAMUS. 
729 
it impossible for an enemy to approach them at that time. Another 
use they ^till have for this creature in war, is, to force open the gates 
of a city or garrison which is closely besieged. This he does by 
setting his hinder parts against them, wriggling backwards and for- 
wards with his whole weight, till he has burst the bars, and forced 
an entrance, to prevent which, most of the garrisons in this country 
have large spikes stuck in their gates, that project to a considerable 
distance. After all, those prodigious animals are kept more for show 
and grandeur than for use, and their keeping is attended with a very 
greaf expense ; for they devour vast quantities of provision, and must 
sometimes be regaled with a plentiful repast of cinnamon, of which 
they are excessively fond. It is said to be no uncommon thing with 
a nabob, if he has a mind to ruin a private gentleman, to make him 
a present of an elephant, which he is ever afterwards obliged to main- 
tain, at a greater expense than he can afford : by parting with it, he 
would certainly fall under the displeasure of the grandee, besides 
forfeiting all the honour which his countrymen think is conferred 
upon him by so respectable a present. 
Hippopotamus, OR River Horse. 
The head of this animal is of an enormous size, and the month 
vastly wide. , The ears are small and pointed, and lined within very 
thickly with short fine hairs. The eyes and nostrils are small in pro- 
portion to the bulk of the animal. On the lips are some strong hairs, 
scattered in patches here and there. The hair on the body is very 
thin, of a whitish colour, and scarce discernible at first sight. There 
is no mane on the neck, as some writers assert, only the hairs on 
that part are rather thicker. The skin is very thick and strong, and 
of a dusky colour. The tail is about a foot long, taper, compressed, 
and naked. The hoofs are divided into four parts. The legs are 
short and thick. In bulk it is second only to the elephant. The 
male has been found to be seventeen feet long, the circumference of the 
body fifteen, the height near seven, the legs nearly three, the head 
above three and a half, and the girt near nine. The mouth, when 
open, is above two feet wide, and furnished with forty-four teeth of 
different figures, including the cutting teeth and the canine. The 
cutting, and particularly the canine teeth of the lower jaw, are very 
long, and so hard and strong that they strike fire with steel. This 
circumstance, it is probable, gave rise to the fable of the ancients, 
that the hippopotamus vomited fire from his mouth. The substance 
of the canine teeth is so white, so fine,- and so hard, that it is pre- 
ferable to ivory for making artificial teeth. The cutting teeth, espe- 
cially those of the lower jaw, are very long, cylindrical, and chamfered. 
The canine teeth are also long, crooked, prismatic, and sharp, like 
the tusks of the wild boar. The grinders are square and oblong, 
like those of a man, and so large, that a single one sometimes weighs 
three pounds. The tusks, according to Dr. Sparrman, are twenty- 
seven inches long. 
With such powerful arms, and such a prodigious strength of body, 
the hippopotamus might render himself formidable to every other 
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